Electrical switch.



No 845,848. PATENTED MAR. 5, 1 907..

N E. W. BRAGKETT.

ELECTRICAL SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 31 1904.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST W. BRAOKETT, OF ELYRIA, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE DEAN ELEC- TRIC COMPANY, OF ELYRIA, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

ELECTRICAL SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 5, 1907.

Application filed March 31, 1904. Serial No. 200,900.

ments, although it has some features which would render it useful in anypart of the electrical field. v

T The type of switch-hook now most commonly employed upon subscriber s telephone been found to accumulate wall sets is known as the long-lever hook. In the early days of the art, before refinements of design had been introduced into all the details of telephone apparatusthere was no settled common form of hook, much of the uncertainty and a large proportion ofthe troubles at theisubscribers instrument being due to bad sprin s and poor contacts. Many of the. early hooks and some still in use were designed with short levers and springs which from their shape, position, or'size were almost certain to acquire a set. At the same time 1 rubbing contacts were used,

formed usually by a German silver'spring cooperating with some moving art of the brass hook-lever. Contrary to t e, pu ose of their design such rubbin contacts ave irt and to corrode, and they are now being gradually superseded by platinum contacts mounted on suitable surfacesor sprin s.

In spite of the many improvements'that have recently been made. most switch-hooks still remain subject-t0 many criticisms, be-

. cause of inherent weaknesses of design not yet entirely eliminated. Thus with most hooks of which I have knowledge it is necessary to ut the hook in position from the inside of its liousin and thereafter to apply the escutch-' eon, .W ch must necessarily e div/lded. In some cases the base of the hook issecured on the inside-of the box and the lever. then-inserted from the outside and the hook assembled. This is very poor practice, however,

- all separate parts of the mechanism should be assemb ed complete before they are brought together, as well for the sake of unifo'rmity in product as for shop economies. In some cases, and especially in central-en.- ergy wall sets, the side brackets of the desk have been divided and the hook-leverniounted to project through the notched face of one portion, being inclosed when the parts are 'in position. This also involves the use of a divided escutcheon. In most of the long-lever hooks now on the market the lever is pivoted on a shoulder-screw, and if this screw happens to work loose the action of the lever on the contacts'becomes uncertain, with a possibility of its working ofi entirely. If in order to avoid. this the screw be riveted after it is in, it then becomes impossible to remove the lever for pur osesof inspection, repairs, &c. In almost al hooksnow on the market the supporting-base for the hbok is secured either to the bottom of the magneto-box or to the transverse shelf or artition under the desk.

connected with the side wall through which it passes. It cannot be compacted and com-' pactly mounted, and in every case it re? quires an escutcheon of one :or several separate parts.

Bymy present invention I eliminate. all' the above and many other undesirable features hitherto existing in long-lever switch- In either case the ook'is not permanently hooks. Moreover, I secure a certainty of v0 eration and a uniformity. of product not hitherto attainable.

- My hook consists, essentially, of onl four partsviz., first, the frame; secon the group of contact-springs; third, the actuat- 1n -spring, and, fourth, the lever.

Tirst. The frame is made in onep'iece and carries the escutcheon on it.

Second. The contact-springs are mounted as a unit and handled as such I Third. The spring. is of the simplest form I and one'which' has been found by many years experience in the manufacture of small-armsto'mainta'in its strength and temper longer. than any other. It serves the double purpose of lifting'the lever and of maintaining it upon its pivot.

Fourth. The lever is inserted through a slot of normal size in the escutcheoii and frame, no special opening being required, and

is slotted'totake over the shouldered pivotpin on the frame, the pin being n'veted solidly bled. Fig. 2 is a similar view with the conshown.

- and 4.

' inward from the edge of the escutcheon, so

' which the hook is inserted. I

having the usual forked extremity h. This the escutcheon-plate and frame and backto the frame and the lever being held up and I on it by the mainspring. i

The proportions of all my parts are such that the entire hookwhen assembled may be inserted from the outside through the sine l opening in box or bracket, the escutcheon covering this opening and giving a handsome finish.

My invention is illustrated in the accom panyin g, drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a side view of the hook assemtact-springs removed. Fig. '3 is a separate view of the frame in perspective, and Fig. 4 of the escutcheon-platedetached.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the appearance of the members as they are assembled is clearly The frame A. carries the escutcheon A! at one extremity, and at the other extremity 07 carries the pivot-pin (L This frame and-the escutcheon are best shown in Figs. 3 Both frame and escutcheon are formed up out of blanks punched from sheet metal. The frame'consistsof a longitudinal member a and a transverse member a. The former has a projecting portion" on its upper edge bent over to form a shelf or'flange a", which is perforated at a and a for the purpose of securing the actuating and the contact springs, respectively. A rounded extension 0] carries the abutment or pivot a for the l hook lever H. This consists of a cylindrical piece of metal, preferably cut from rodstock and with an annular depression cut in it at a, so as to form a headed and shouldered pin.

The transverse portione of the frame has the'vertical slot 0, cut-parallel with the plane of the body a, the projecting ears a and the four screw-holes a The purpose of having the ears a projecting is to throw the body a that the latter will cover the opening through While the transverse portion a of the frame really forms an escutcheonin itself, it is not finished in its appearance by reason'of its shape. Hence I provide a cover-plate A, which may obviously be of much thinner largely ornamental. I It is formed with a flange a to fit about the periphery of the member, a, asindicated-by dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2, and it also has a vertical slot a and screw-holes a, which when the parts are assembled register with the correspondin slot and screw-holes in the part a.

Ilpon the frame is supported the lever H,

lever extends through the slots 0, audit in along the face of the member 'a, being slotted atrh and'held up in the recess a of the pin a by the mainspring S. This spring is formed with a portion substantially; lying in acircle ing through the opening a".

and a straightline extension constituting a.

tangent thereto. This extension is secured upon the flange a of the frame by the screws 8 secured in the openings a Its curved end passes around the extdnsion 71, of the hooklever and coming up beneath it takes into a notch 7L lying a little to the left of a vertical line through the center of the pivot (1 With this construction the spring holds up thelever and at the same time maintainsit' in position upon the pivot.

The contact-springs s are assembled in parallel relation with interposed slips of insulating material 8 and secured by the screws .9 to the metal block S. This block in turn is secured to the flange a by the screws 8 pass- The advantages of thus assembling the contact-springs upona separate base are obvious. Sets for different purposes may be kept in stock and finished hooks assembled therefrom, as required Thus for a single-party commonbatteryinstrument a; different arrangement of springs would be required from that intended for a magneto party-line telephone. Both can be kept in stock by my invention withoutany great expense, and all the hooks as such may still be assembled uniformly, as shown in Fig. 2. Another point of advantage lies in the ease of manipulation of the springs son their block S, whereby absolute uniformity may be attained. Still another point is this that the block S may be detached from the flange 0; at any time. and an instrument changed from one type ,of connection to another by simply. changing the springs, or, on

the other hand, the springs may be-left in.v

without disturbing the wire connections, and

the mechanical parts of the hook may be taken out'for repairs.

The making and breaking of contacts among/the springs s' is accomplished by having'one spring longer than the others and by.

causing its insulated end 8 to lie in the slot in, formed in a transverse projection on the hook extension 7L3. As the lever Hgoes up and down, therefore, the extension h is moved and shifts the contacts of the springs. Connection'to the varioussprings is preferably made by soldering to tails formed on the sides thereof. I H I v I am aware that many changes may be made in matters of detail without departing from the spirit of my inventionj; but all such changes, I wish it distinctlyunderstood, are

regarded as clearly within the scopeandpurview of my claims.

"Having thusdescribed my inventionpwhat' I claim, and desire to secure byLettersPate-nt,is"

1. In an electrical switch, the combination with a frame, an operating-leverpivoted :1 thereon, a flange formed thereon, a metal block ren ovablyficarried uponsaid' flange,-

contact springs removably mounted upon said block, whereby the;bl oclgandsprings.

may he removed together or separately, and an operating connection between the lever and springs.

2. An electrical switch comprising a frame,

a pivot-post thereon,'a lever mounted upon said p1vot-post, an independent base carried by said frame above the pivot-post, a group.

of contact-springs secured together and mounted upon said base,

nection between the lever an the springs," and an operating-spring secured to the frame and extending around thelever to engage the carried thereby, contact-springs carried by same forward of the pivot-post.

- 3. An electricalswitch comprising the following instrhmentalities: a frame aflang'e,

said flange, a givot post on the. frame, an o erating lever avinga notch in its under si e and adapted to engage said pivot-post,- an extension on said lever ada ted to form an operating connection wit, the contact-.

s rings, means for limiting the movement of t e lever, and a spring carried by said flange and; extending into engagement with the rightan'gles to the'body springs mounted rupon the frame, an opnotch of the levers'o as to'normallyhold the forward end thereof in raised osition.

4. A-telephone switch hoo for wall sets comprising a frame havingla front plate at oft eframe,contact- '7 eratinglever passing through an aperture in i said front late and pivoted on the side ofthe frame, wit an operating connection for said contact-springs, means for normally holding the lever/in raised posltion, and an escutchan operating con-" than said escutcheon.

5. In a telephone switch-hook, the combination .of a frame. having an apertured integal front plate, a switch-hook plivforted or; the

' e out p ate,

a flange on the frame, switch-springs remov-' ame and projecting through t ably secured to said flange, a notched rearward extension on said switchhook adapted I to form an operating connection between the same, and tin; springis, and an actuatings ",carrie said a' eande a in the st y ii ihook on its'unde i side for v ar d d f its pivotal point so as. tonormally hold the switch-hook in raised position. a

6. In a telephone-switch, the combination with a frame havingfan apertured front plate, a pivot 0st 011 said frame,a flange carried by said ame, contact-springs supported by said fla through t e aperture in the front plate, lying between the, springs and the frame in engagement with the pivot-post, and having an operatirig connection with the springs, together with means carried by the flange for holding tion. y

in presence of two witnesses. A

I ERNEST W. BRACKETT.

- Witnesses RAY H. MNSON, WM.- W. D AN e, an operating-lever extending- --In testimony whereof I affixrny signaturev the forward end of said lever in raised posi 

